title: Identification of the N-acylsphingosine amidohydrolase 1 gene (ASAH1) for susceptibility to schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the involvement of the N-acylsphingosine amidohydrolase 1 gene (ASAH1) in the susceptibility to schizophrenia in the Han Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed cDNA microarray analysis to exam the gene expression profile in six schizophrenic patients and six healthy controls. We evaluated the ASAH1 expression levels in 30 subjects with chronic schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 254 unrelated probands with schizophrenia and their biological parents were also genotyped at three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs: rs3753118, rs3753116, and rs7830490) of the ASAH1 gene for association analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the microarray analysis, the ASAH1 gene was down-regulated in all schizophrenic patients compared with healthy controls. In real-time PCR, the ASAH1 expression levels for schizophrenic patients with positive family history were significantly decreased (P = 0.020). In the association analyses, two SNPs (rs7830490 and rs3753118) and one haplotype (rs7830490 (A)-rs3753116 (G)) of ASAH1 showed significant evidence of nominal associations with schizophrenia (P = 0.026; P = 0.046; P = 0.007, respectively). The haplotype remained statistically significant (empirical P = 0.045) after correction for multiple testing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports that the ASAH1 gene may be a potential candidate gene for schizophrenia in Han Chinese subjects.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Huaihui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yousong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Sanduo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yifeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Kaida
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Donghong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D055573:Acid Ceramidase / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000208:ethnology*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C526693:ASAH1 protein, human; D055573:Acid Ceramidase